He has been behind two of ITV’s biggest shows, and now the BBC too has turned to Simon Cowell’s company to produce a hit stablemate for Strictly Come Dancing in the form of dance talent show judged by its audience.

The Greatest Dancer, which starts on 5 January, “transfers power to the people” in a competition that offers the winner £50,000 and a guest appearance on Strictly.

In a departure from Cowell’s previous hits, The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, where talent experts decide the winner, on The Greatest Dancer, the studio audience are the judges. If 75% of them vote for an act by turning on a light on their seat,the mirror behind the performer splits open to reveal them to the audience.

Also in the audience are three experts – singer Cheryl, Strictly professional dancer Oti Mabuse and Glee actor Matthew Morrison – who will coach the final nine acts and give them feedback. At points, their frustrations become evident when they see talented performers overlooked by the public.

Morrison said: “It’s hard to sit there as someone who has studied dance, but it comes down to the general population’s take on dance. It can be a great thing and it can also be a bad thing because they don’t understand the hours and the commitment and the sacrifice it takes to be a great dancer. But perhaps there was something in them that didn’t connect.”

Nigel Hall, global head of television at Cowell’s company Syco Entertainment, said: “You can’t be a star in showbiz if people don’t want to see you, and often it wasn’t the best technical dancers but the dancers who had that heart and passion and dedication that received the 75% and so opened the mirrors. As Simon often says, you have to have the likeability factor!”

Acts will progress if they receive 75% of the audience vote. Photograph: Tom Dymond/BBC/Syco/Thames

Hall, who used to be executive producer for Stars in Their Eyes, said: “I thought combining a kind of doors opening with the splitting of a mirror down the middle and turning it into a reveal would be something new and unique to dance.”

He said Cowell, who has not worked for the BBC before, had been “key” to the creation of the show, funding the pilot, helping fine-tune the format with co-producer Thames, and “he even told Cheryl she would be mad to turn this down”.

The Greatest Dancer will be presented by Alesha Dixon and Diversity dancer Jordan Banjo and features a diverse lineup of contestants.

Strictly is still hugely popular, but is now 15 years old , so the BBC is keen to find more new Saturday night shows.

The BBC’s director of content, Charlotte Moore, described Greatest Dancer as “epic, warm and very much a people’s show. We are very excited about it.”

When asked how being a mentor on The Greatest Dancer compared with being a judge on X Factor, Cheryl said it was different: “It did feel more competitive with X Factor, because at the end someone was winning a massive record contract. With this show … you’re not trying to create a career. Hopefully a platform, but not a career.”

Thames’s managing director, Amelia Brown, said all kinds of dance acts were welcome, from ballet to street, and “the result is … a dance show with a little bit of magic”.